I've got a question about Luger operation. My wife's grandfather has a WWII bring-back. When pulled back (no mag in place) the toggle simply stays back, it has to be manually pushed forward to go into battery.

What's wrong? I'm assuming there's a spring broken/missing. There's been no attempt to try to chamber a round.

It sounds like the recoil spring is missing or, if it is the older type Luger, the flat spring may be broken. The later coil springs don't break, but they might be weakened by leaving the gun open for a long time (decades) or maybe somone took the spring out and never replaced it.

Take off either of the grip screws and look at the space behind the magazine well. You should see a coil spring or, less likely, the remains of a flat spring.

I agree with dansu. I've had a Stoeger for years and it is one of my favorites. It is an extremely fun little pistol to shoot. I prefer it over a Ruger mk2 anyday. It may not be a Luger, or even the same mechanism, but it still has an interesting and unique action. If a real Luger is not in the price range i think the Stoeger is a fine substitute. Parts and magazines are very difficult to find though. Just my thoughts on the matter.

your G date was built on a DWM frame as it seems to miss the Mauser hump and P.08 imprint.

From what I read, G dates and 1936 S/42s, do not have the Mauser hump. The Mauser hump was on some K date (1934) lugers, and it became standard in 1937 after the feature was not present in 1935 or 1936. I don't think the
"P.08" mark came until much later.

Were you suggesting that it was an old completed DWM frame which Mauser used to make a luger? I would think that those frames would have been used up already, but perhaps not? I never thought about that. I do know that Mauser acquired the tooling from DWM, and I suppose some finished parts as well.

Interesting about the Stoger .22 Luger.
I always wanted one when I was a kid. Within the last 10 years I bought one and it doesn't run worth a crap. Maybe I should look it over more carefully and see if I can find the problem. I just assumed this was normal.

This doesn't add anything to the thread either, but I have a couple "shooter" Lugers. One is a submarine commander that I need to get refinished. Sad, in that it is all matching.

__________________
You know the rest. In the books you have read
How the British Regulars fired and fled,
How the farmers gave them ball for ball,
From behind each fence and farmyard wall,
Chasing the redcoats down the lane,
Then crossing the fields to emerge again
Under the trees at the turn of the road,
And only pausing to fire and load.

Both the Stoeger .22 and the Erma "Lugers" have spotty records for reliability. I have seen them both run perfectly, and I have seen both have repeated problems. IMHO, purchase of either is a crapshoot; I will stick to the Ruger with an "R" .22 pistols.

From what I read, G dates and 1936 S/42s, do not have the Mauser hump. The Mauser hump was on some K date (1934) lugers, and it became standard in 1937 after the feature was not present in 1935 or 1936. I don't think the
"P.08" mark came until much later.

Were you suggesting that it was an old completed DWM frame which Mauser used to make a luger? I would think that those frames would have been used up already, but perhaps not? I never thought about that. I do know that Mauser acquired the tooling from DWM, and I suppose some finished parts as well.

Thanks for the compliments. I liked your guns as well.

__________________
Winchester 73, the TFL user that won the west
Winchester_73 is online now Report Post

Sorry, I missed your post. I have the book by Hallock & van de Kant about the Mauser P.08 from 1930 - 1945 and it is stated that many DWM frames and parts went to Mauser but they were used up in the first years of production, probably until the first K dates. There were 4,000 complete pistols and parts for at least 8,000 more sent from Berlin to Oberndorf. Mr. Weiss, the production supervisor was transferred from DWM to Mauser in 1930 and has kept notes of mayn transactions.

Just FWIW, SaxonPig's police Luger has two features commonly found on police pistols (never on military guns), the sear safety and the Schiwy magazine safety. The first locks the sear bar when the sideplate is removed, preventing an accident if the trigger bar is pressed in; the magazine safety blocks the trigger when the magazine is removed. Almost all the magazine safeties were disabled by grinding off the front part, leaving the rear part in place. That was apparently done on the gun shown.

This email link is to reach site administrators for assistance, if you cannot access TFL via other means. If you are a TFL member and can access TFL, please do not use this link; instead, use the forums (like Questions, Suggestions, and Tech Support) or PM an appropriate mod or admin.

If you are experiencing difficulties posting in the Buy/Sell/Trade subforums of TFL, please read the "sticky" announcement threads at the top of the applicable subforum. If you still feel you are qualified to post in those subforums, please contact "Shane Tuttle" (the mod for that portion of TFL) via Private Message for assistance.

This email contact address is not an "Ask the Firearms Expert" service. Such emails will be ignored. If you have a firearm related question, please register and post it on the forums.